Last week's New York Auto Show had few out-and-out concept cars.
One was the Scion FR-S sports coupe, a striking deep red shape that wowed crowds throughout the time we were there. Despite its 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four engine, it's not inherently on the green end of the scale.
But another concept that shows great green promise was the Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class, a preview of the compact car to be introduced by the German luxury-car maker in 2013 or thereabouts.
Before its auto show debut, the company previewed it at a private party at the new Mercedes-Benz Manhattan dealership, which will open to the public in June.
The Concept A-Class was sufficiently removed from a production car that it only had a dummy interior that went down a few inches below the window line.
Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class, at new Mercedes-Benz Manhattan showroom, April 2011
But the styling and design cues it shows are likely to translate to the first entirely new A-Class line since the late 1990s, when Mercedes-Benz launched its first-ever small car in Europe.
The new A-Class is likely to come as a three-door hatchback (that's what the concept is), a five-door hatch, probably a sedan, and both a small minivan (or "people carrier," as Europeans say) and a crossover of some sort.
The concept is said to be fitted with a 2.0-liter engine developing more than 200 horsepower, but in production, the new A-Class will likely include small gasoline and diesel engines, as well as an all-electric version (already being prototyped by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell test fleet).
Our video walkaround from the show mostly deals with the different aspects of the exterior design. Have a look and tell us what you think: Would you pay the extra cost of a compact car from Mercedes-Benz if it started at, say, $28,000?
Leave us your thoughts in the Comments below.
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